Audubon County Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Audubon Co., Iowa) 1885-1894, 1887-07-14
AMERICANS IN EUROPE.
Charge that They Are Undergoing
Dcnationalfzation,

10 1he AeU fOr6 Tunes: There are
q great many Americans living in
Europe. There is large colony in
London and much larger one in
Paris. Throughout all the continental
cities there are increasing colonies of
rich Americans. There is large colony
in Berlin. In tho winter time Rome
is throngcd with Americans. All
through the Riviera there arc more
Americans than other foreigners. Every
year brings over larger number of
tourists from the United States. They
bring with them as general thing
plenty of money and spend it freely.
The American passion for visiting
Europe results in a great loss of money
to United States. But the loss in tho
case of tho tourist who comes for a
short time for study and improvement
is made up by the gain in the education
of the visitor But the most serious loss
and drawback to the United States
como from the large emigration from
the United States to Europe of some of
our richest people. There is very
large number of wealthy Americans
who now spend the greater part of
their lives in the continental cities of
Europe. These people come over with
an indefinite idea of what they will do,
and become completely enthralled the
hN-l ifn nf Al 70 ha hnn1 I,v al
of leisure in Europe. They soon learn to
forget their own country and remain
away year after year, thinking that
some time they will 60 home, but
when they do they stay but short
time and come drifting back to their
old life of ease and indolcnt travel
Some of the heads of these wandering
American families hug to Their breasts
the dclus on that they are over here for
the purpose of educating their children
and to teach them foreign langua ges.
Their children do pick up a smattering
of French, German. and possibly of
some of the other continental languages.
The slight gain obtained in their facility
to talk in two or three languages is
more than lost through their lack of
proper education in other directions.
Wandering about with their parents
they become unsettled and receive no
regular, thorough education. They are
untitled to go home and engage in bust
"a,
thing else but the wandering life which
the have led. If they have plenty of
money they can manage to get along.
but there are many cases reported at
the legations of Americans who lose
their money through long life abroad
and consequent inattention to their
business affairs at home. The result
is often great poverty and distress.
The greater number of Americans
who live abroad labor under the idea
that they are studying and improving
themselves. They are not. They are
simply undergoing a process of dena-
tlonalization. They lose all interest
in their own country and its affairs.
Their patriotism becomes reduced to
the lowest possible degree. They are
always ready to chime in with the for
eign critics of our institutions. And
know of no greater ev than being ban
ished from Europe. There is no other
nation in the world that sends out such
large number of wealthy emigrants as
ours. There is a very small number of
English people among the foreign col
onicS on the continent. The so-called
better class of England swear by their
own country. They would live no where
else. You will never find any English
man with such Il poor opinion of his
own country or its institutions that he
will sit silent when they arc being made
the subject of adverse critic, SIN. This
trait of national character might we'll
be cmulated by our rich classes, who
are constantly leaving the United States
because they fad life in Europe so
much pleasantcr. They chase after the
social digntaries and the nobility with
an carncstncss that has made their am.
billions the by-word of European socia!
circles. was talking the other day
with a prominent Amer en-. a public
man who has spent q number of years
in the diplomatic service, who said:
"Americans should not come to Europe
except to study or when business actu-
ally forces them to come. People with
nothing to do here and with plenty of
money to spend Invariably waste their
lives and destroy the future of their
children if they remain too long. They
acquire habit of dawdling and frttin 9
away their time and of chasing after
the petty van ties of foreign soc al life
which are most degrading and doterior-
ating. wish that there were some
way of forcing all of these Americans
to return to the United States, where
they might be of some use to them
selves and TO others. In European
countries the rich aad the lcisurely class
turn their attention to politics. II these
rich people who bring their children
over to Europe to give them a o-called
education would keep them at HON,
and tran them for public careers in tho
United States the results would be ar
advantage to the country. There il
everything in public life with us &c
satisfy the most honorable ambition
and the reason our politics is not better
than it is is because so many of our ricl
people sniff contemptuously whencvcl
the word is mentioned, and set thei
faces towards Europe. where politics
is the very breath of life of the mos
cultivated societies."
This same ex-diplomatc sad another
markcd peculiarly of the people in tn,
United States was to send their insane
people abroad. He said: You woul,
be astonished to find how many insan
people are shipped over to Europe b.
their relatives. simply to get rid o
them. OF course, | mean cases wher
the insanity is not so marked as to al
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